Greetings fellow AH Rotarians,
Whether you follow the official or unofficial calendars, it seems clear that, as in the words of the old song (please excuse the spellings, it's very old) sommer is gecommen in, and it seems to have arrived with a vengeance, more than making up for the rather chilly late spring. Early spring flowers have long since faded and I have already planted the second crop of greens at my garden.
But Rotary is not just sitting back into (to quote another rather more modern summer song) the days of soda and pretzels and beer. As soon as one presentation series ends another is about to begin. The final session in the RI series on Cultivating Effective Projects, this last session focusing on Expanding Reach: Partnering with Youth in Service, which took place on 18 May, can be seen here. The first broadcast of a new series People of Action: Champions of Inclusion will take place this coming Saturday, 10 June, at 10 am. This first session will broadcast an event that took place in Cape Town, South Africa last April, where six Rotarians were honored as champions of inclusion. I do not have a link to the event, but hopefully everyone received the RI email announcing the presentation, if you have not received the email, please let me know and I can forward a copy.
Rather more locally and, unfortunately, at almost exactly the same time as the Champions of Inclusion presentation, we have a session a the Lussier food pantry this coming Saturday, 10 Jume, and we could use another couple of volunteers to fill out the shift.
As perhaps the best indication that we are finally leaving the pandemic behind, we will be welcoming an exchange student to Madison again this coming year, for the first time in five years. Jiradon Foochayapittinant, who conveniently also goes by the name of Braydon, will be arriving from Thailand to begin a year at West High School. I look forward to meeting the young man, and I give my thanks to Brad for working so diligently to make this happen, and to Erin (and Jason) for being the first host family.
Please join us this coming Monday, 5 June, at the Park Hotel or on zoom at the usual times, 5:15 for the social at the Post Bar and 5:45 for the meeting, to hear from Kate McKinnie about the Appalachian Service Project.